Application programs (referred to below more simply as application(s)) for cell phones such as smartphones are now available that allow users to use their cell phones as remote controls for remotely controlling televisions, personal computers, and other devices. A cell phone configured as a remote control by such an application can be used to change channels, adjust volume, transfer data such as video from the cell phone to the television or from the television to the cell phone, to remotely program a DVR, to remotely control selected software on a PC, to remotely shutdown a PC, etc. In one form, these applications permit the display of the cell phone to emulate the buttons of a more conventional remote control.
Also, QR (Quick Response) Codes are now in use. A QR Code is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR Code readers and mobile devices, such as cell phones, with cameras. A QR Code typically consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, a URL, or other data.
QR codes are currently used in connection with television in a way that makes the relationship between viewer and television interactive. For example, QR codes are currently used in television programming, allowing users to read the codes with their cell phones and, using the information encoded in the code, connect through the Internet to web sites for accessing additional information. Thus, inter alia, the user can access a supplier's website based on a QR code embedded in advertising carried in television ads or other programming.
QR Codes are also being used to uniquely identify individual televisions so that each television in a facility such as a hotel or motel can be distinguished by its QR Code from all other televisions in the facility.
Disclosed herein is a novel bonding between a camera based mobile device having connectivity and a receiver, such as a television, using a code, such as a QR Code, uniquely identifying that receiver.